College Entrance Exam Scores Improving

Michigan’s average score on the ACT college entrance exam has inched upward.

Results released Wednesday say the average composite score for Michigan students in the high school graduating class of 2010 was 19.7 on a scale of 1 to 36. That’s up from 19.6 for the class of 2009. The national average for the class of 2010 was 21.0, down from 21.1 a year earlier.

Michigan’s ACT scores have been below the national average since all state students began taking the test with the class of 2008. Michigan’s ACT scores were above the national average when the test was optional and taken mostly by students who planned to go to college.

About 121,000 Michigan students took the 2009 test, compared with about 78,000 in 2007.